Advances and Challenges in Food Industry

\r\n Accurate detection of viable bacteria in foods is critical and necessary in assessing the risk for foodborne outbreaks because only live pathogens constitute the risk of foodborne outbreaks. Currently, two techniques are available for viability detection of foodborne pathogens. The first one is based on the detection of mRNA by using reverse-transcriptase PCR (RT-PCR). The other technique for viable cell detection is an approach that uses PCR method in conjunction with biological dyes, ethidium mono azide (EMA) and propidium mono azide (PMA, a derivative of ethidium bromide). Packaging is the cornerstone of the food processing industry. In fact, the processing and packaging industry transforms food from one stage to another based on appropriate techniques and methods, and the entire chain of events can be subsumed under this one phrase. As most packaging generates waste, there is renewed focus on creating sustainable packaging and some of the examples of those materials are polylactide acid (PLA) plastics, sugar cane pulp, fiber composite, starch-based films, modified atmosphere packaging (MAP), Smart packaging and so on. Bluetooth standards, wireless network, RFID technology, fieldbus technology, modular object-oriented DBMS, client-server-based distributed architecture, Human—Machine Interface and graphics, and user-friendly handheld devices play vital roles in a typical modern-day food processing plant.